The present invention relates to chemical solution generators. More particularly, the present invention relates to a container for a solid cast chemical product.
Solid cast chemical compositions are typically formed in a hot, flowable state. The chemical composition is then poured in the flowable state into a container to substantially fill the container. Upon cooling, the chemical composition product solidifies within the container. Such solid cast chemical products have many advantages, including relatively less shipping expenses, since the water to form a solution need not be shipped, and the potential danger of spillage is greatly reduced. Typically, such solid cast chemical products are utilized for cleaning, disinfecting and the like. In operation, the container, with the solid cast chemical product solidified within it, is inverted and disposed within a bowl having a nozzle in the bottom portion of the bowl. Reference to FIGS. 1-4 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,875, incorporated herein by reference, may be had at this point. The bowl of the dispenser 10 is depicted at 14 in prior art FIGS. 1 and 2. The nozzle is depicted at 56 in FIG. 2. An upward directed water spray is depicted at 58 in FIG. 2. The spray 58 impinges upon the solid cast chemical product 60 cast in the container 52. A flowable chemical solution resulting from the dissolving action of the water (or other solvent) bearing upon the chemical product 60 collects at the bottom of the bowl 14 and flows outward through the outlet 68.
In the past as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container 52 in which the solid cast chemical product 60 was formed was straight (parallel) sided. One reason for straight sided container 52 is to accommodate a side-by-side disposition where the dispenser 10 includes a plurality of bowls 14 placed in a side-by-side arrangement. A problem with such straight parallel sided containers 52 was that a significant amount of the solid cast chemical product 60 remained undissolved in the upper portion of the inverted container 52. The spray 58 may not have been directed adequately to impinge upon the chemical product 60 at the bottom of the container 52. The spray 58 typically has a conical shape as depicted in FIG. 2 and may also include a center jet directed straight upward. The angle of the cone of the spray 58 is selected as a compromise to best impinge on the greatest volume of the cast chemical product 60 in the container 52, commencing with the portion of the cast chemical product 60 that is disposed close to the mouth 54 and ending with the last remaining cast chemical product 60 in the container 52 (that which is formed at or near the bottom of the container 52). A result of the compromise in spray design has been that last remaining cast chemical product 60 that is formed at the bottom of the container 52 has proved difficult to reach with the water spray 58 and remains solidified in the bottom of the container 52. In this case, the container 52 is then discarded with a substantial amount of cast chemical product 60 still formed therein. This cast chemical product 60 then becomes waste.
The amount of dissolution of the chemical product 60 is also affected by the temperature and pressure of the solvent comprising the spray 60 that is directed on the cast chemical product 60. It is desired that the temperature be relatively hot and the pressure be relatively high. These are variables that are difficult to control and to plan for when designing the nozzle 56. As can be appreciated, activating the dispenser 10 may result in relatively cool water being sprayed from the nozzle 56 until the water has had time to ran and advance a column of hot water to the dispenser 10. Further, some establishments that use the dispenser 10 typically have less than desired water pressure all the time. Additionally, with existing containers, a nozzle 56 that has a rather strong central jet (in addition to the depicted conical spray) dissolves the chemical product 60 disposed at the center of the bottom of the container 52, leaving a donut shaped ring of undissolved chemical at the periphery of the bottom of the container 52.
In view of forgoing, it would be a decided advantage in the industry to have a container for the solid cast chemical product that would promote dissolution of substantially all the cast chemical product in the container under varying conditions of water pressure and temperature at the nozzle 56 with a given conical spray 58 and further with a strong center jet. The container should also accommodate a side-by-side disposition where multiple bowls 14 are employed in a dispenser. Further, it would be a decided advantage to provided a consistent delivery of quantity of chemical product for each injection of solvent, commencing with a full container and ending with the container being empty.
The present invention substantially meets the aforementioned needs of the industry. The container of the present invention has inclined sides extending at least a portion of the way between the mouth of the container and the bottom of the container. The cross-section of the container generally increases with the distance from the mouth of the container to the bottom of the container. The container has a shape that is closely related to the shape of the conical spray of water that is directed into the container. With this configuration, a spray of liquid that typically expands conically the further that it is from the nozzle, expands more generally parallel with the increasing cross section of the container to readily reach the cast material disposed in the container. This is especially true for the cast material that is disposed most closely to the bottom of the container In an embodiment, the bottom of the container is domed to better expose the cast chemical disposed in the bottom to the spray, especially in the case where the nozzle generates a relatively strong central jet of spray. In a further embodiment the container of the present invention includes a flat formed thereon to accommodate a side-by-side disposition of a plurality of containers.
The container of the present invention promotes a substantially constant weight of chemical product being dissolved each injection of solvent without regard for the quantity of chemical product in the container at the time that the solvent injection is made. This has substantial benefit in ensuring that adequate dissolution occurs to accomplish the desired task of the solution, especially toward the end of the remaining chemical product in the container where the amount of chemical product dissolved per injection tended to fall off dramatically with the prior art container.
The present invention is a container for use with a solution dispenser, the solution dispenser generating a solution by impinging a solvent spray on a solid cast chemical product disposed within the container, the container being disposable in an inverted disposition in a solution dispenser bowl includes a container body suitable for containing a flowable chemical composition and supporting a casting of the chemical composition. The container body has a mouth for receiving the solvent spray therein; and has a container bottom being disposed generally opposed to the mouth; and further has an inclined side portion operably coupled to and extending between the container bottom portion and the container mouth, the cross sectional dimension of the side portion decreasing from the container bottom portion to the container mouth. The present invention is further a chemical dispenser including at least one of the aforementioned containers. Additionally, the present invention is a method of promoting consistent dissolution of cast chemical product that includes inclining a side portion of the container inward from a container bottom portion toward the mouth of the container.